Women's Basketball: Pat takes "jab" at UConn

The following was from an AP story on Tennessee's celebration Wednesday:

After waiting so long to win another crown, Summitt let loose a little and even took a jab at arch-nemesis Connecticut. She thanked Tennessee president John Peterson for his support, particularly wearing the same orange socks to all the NCAA tournament games. Peterson was provost at UConn before being hired to oversee the statewide university system.

"The best decision he ever made was to get out of Connecticut!" Summitt said. And the fans roared some more.

My take: Pat deserves to gloat at UConn's expense because the Lady Vols won the title, although I must say shooting 34.5 percent in the championship game is pretty pathetic. What little that I watched was a pretty bad display of basketball by both teams. There were a ton of missed layups. And the turnovers, my personal favorite was in the second half when Rutgers guard Matee Ajavon dribbled the ball off her foot with nobody within 10 feet of her. The ball bounced right to a Tennessee player and the announcer yells, "it's stolen!" I guess when the play is ugly, the broadcasting also tends to be. UConn didn't play that bad against LSU. Tennessee could have been beaten. It's just Rutgers stunk. The Rangers-Islanders game that night was more exciting.

Categories:

12 Comments

Hmmm....I would like to post a comment about the Lady Huskies.I am an avid Lady Vols fan,and very proud of it;I have read comments on this site regarding the poor shooting percentages during the NCG and I have only this to say:
It's really simple you know,we don't like you guys and you don't like us.Clear enough for everyone up your way? All the UConn fans and players who presume that if one is from the south,esp.TN,then one is an uneducated,ignorant hillbilly.The thing is we don't care what you think so I hope that's that.Of course it won't be but I can dream huh? I also would like to comment on UConn's Fresno deal. I don't think it was fair to UConn at all.I mean the team had a great season and should have been rewarded with a better regional,perhaps one alot closer to Conn.Yes,you read correctly.
Anyway,I can't wait to see Uconn in Knoxville next year.

Personally, I didn't see anything wrong with what Pat Summitt said about the Tennessee president and UConn. I thought it was pretty tame, to be honest. Just another way of Pat saying she's glad that he's on their side now.

As for the low shooting percentage, it was what it was. And make no mistake, it was awful for a championship team. But no matter how bad the Lady Vols shot, they still came away with the W because Rutgers played horrible.

Come on, no Connecticut fan thinks everyone in Tennessee is an uneducated hillbilly. That is a stereotype you put on yourself.

Maybe people in the 1950s thought that. I've grown up my whole life in Connecticut. And not once have I ever thought that people in Tennessee were hillbillies. I always hear people in Kentucky and West Virginia saying the same thing. Give me a break, NO ONE thinks that. People in New England may make jokes about it, but certainly no one actually thinks it. Just like people in the South joke about New Englanders being uptight and cold. No moderately educated person actually thinks that is the truth.

And by the way, the committee had no choice but to put UConn out West. Certainly it was detrimental, but it was the only place that made sense. UConn was the fourth No. 1 seed (as they should've been, losing to both UNC and Tenn), so they got shipped out. Those are the breaks. If you think UConn shouldn't have been in the West, then you are apparently saying Tennessee was worse than UConn. Something no one would claim.

I won't comment on the "hillbilly" remarks other than to point out that the city of Knoxville and the cit of Hartford are roughly the same age; Knoxville has a population of 180K and Hartford has a population of 125K; the median family income is 38K in Knoxville and 27K in Hartford despite a much higher cost-of-living. I worked for Aetna for years and have been to Hartford on several occasions since the late 80's. So from a population, revenue, income and education standpoint I really don't think that I'd be casting stones from Hartford to Knoxville.

There is an unhealthy rivalry between our two schools and that is fair enough. Rivalries are engendered by stiff competition and UConn has provided that for us the last twelve years. What UConn fans may fail to realize is that OUR biggest rivals are in the SEC with Georgia, Vandy and LSU. Outside the conference, historically, our rivals have always been Texas, ODU, La Tech and Stanford; schools with a tradition. In 1,129 games there are only four teams that have double-digit wins against the Lady Vols but only one of those has a winning record against us; UConn. It wasn't until the 1990 Final Four that anyone outside of Hartford even heard of Auriemma or UConn Lady Huskies; no disrespect just fact. When it looked like UConn may have grown a legit Top 25 program Coach Summitt started scheduling them on a regular basis. As I said, no school or coach other than UConn/Auriemma has a winning record over the Lady Vols and trust me, that 9-13 slate is hard for us to swallow! That being said, by UT scheduling UConn at least once a season it has given much needed publicity, recognition and legitimacy to help build your program. Pat Summitt has brought women's collegiate basketball to the state that it is in today and her contemporary coaches are making six and seven figure incomes because of her.

I really feel that this would have been a HEALTHY rivalry if not for several documented immature comments made by Auriemma in the past. There is no question that he is an outstanding women's basketball coach and in the Top 5 of all-time. Many of his remarks have been snide and in my opinion that trickles down to the players as well. What was the point anyway? Taurasi was atrocious in some of her public statements but a lot of her actions and words on the court were completely reprehensible. You would think that despite the ubiquitous competitiveness that all great coaches have, at 53 years of age at some point Auriemma would grow up. I'm waiting to see the class, dignity and humility from him that we all have seen in Coach Summitt; Jody Conradt; Wendy Larry; Leon Barmore; Tara VanDerveer; Sue Gunter or Andy Landers. I suppose that his ego and envy get in his way of his maturation. It is difficult to play second, third or fourth fiddle to a legend so I can understand a portion of his Napoleonic Complex but our rivalry could be much greater, more intense and a lot more fun without the jealousy and hatred. I, as well as all UT fans, respect the recent accomplishments of UConn and Auriemma but it will take a while for us and the rest of the country to have a high regard for your coach unless he checks his demeanor and attitude.

It's just my two cents worth and I'm under no illusion that is exactly what most of you think that it is worth.

OH MY GOD-Tara VanDerVeer-that just cracked me up. She had to be the most obnoxious, disrespectful angry woman in her comments when Uconn faced Tennessee for the first time in NCAA and beat them. I can still recall her rude and classless comments about how UConn was no match for the mighty Lady Vols. She is one angry woman.

Vol fan...I am equally tired of Geno's big mouth, and I am especially weary of the constant attention he brings to himself.

AS for any comments on the state of the south vs the north, I think that examination of facts alone would encourage Hartford residents to reconsider geographic critique of others. What a lousy city, on almost every measure.

Don't demean yourself by carrying a holier than thou attitude about Pat Summitt. Pat Summitt is a great coach - the best women's basketball coach ever. No one with any kind of knowledge of the sport would say otherwise.

But come on, don't take the fan attitude and start thinking Pat Summitt is somehow a better person than Geno Auriemma. Be a realist, not a biased fan. Yes, they have different personalities. That's just a result of growing up in different situations, with different parenting and different attitudes. They are just different people. Auriemma is not a bad person, not even close. Is he cocky? Sure. But Pat Summitt is too. She shows it differently though. Auriemma doesn't believe in holding his tongue about things he doesn't agree with. I'm sure in private Summitt complains about many things - Candace Parker not getting calls, fan base support, etc. Auriemma just says those things in public. Maybe you don't like that tact, but many people do. They want a person in the public eye, a state employee, to give it to them straight.

It's like a debate between Mike Krzyzewski and Rick Pitino. They are both good coaches, Krzyzewski slightly more so (like Summitt to Auriemma), but Krzyzewski is known as being more humble than Pitino. Does that make Pitino a bad person? Of course not. They are just different.

If you like the Summitt way, that is fine, but don't degrade Auriemma or yourself by taking a holier than thou attitude. They've both done wonderful things for college basketball. And more importantly wonderful things for the young ladies who play for them. And to say that Diana Taurasi sets any worse example than anyone on Tennessee is simply fandom. Taurasi is a great example for young girls, just like Candace Parker - athletic, intelligent, confident role models.

And by the way, no stones were cast from Hartford to Knoxville - they were cast from Knoxville to Knoxville. I was telling a UT fan that no New Englander thinks everyone in Tennessee is a hillbilly. It was the UT fan that said New Englanders say that - which is totally untrue.

To all Tenn fans-
In the 12 years I've closely followed UCONN (have to admit before that I was probably a TN fan) I have not heard anything but good natured rivalry remarks from UCONN fans about TN. Actually those were then followed by something like we have great respect for TN and although we never like to lose, if we do it needs to be to a team we respect - we don't have that respect for the Dukes of the world that think because they come close to winning a championship they belong in the same league as TN and UCONN - win more than one and then maybe we'll have the same respect for them that we do for TN.
Those are the types of comments I hear and I think most UCONN fans reflect as you can hear when Pat Summitt is introduced in Hartford and receives great applause.
On a different subject-I have to say that Taurasi's behavior has never reached the lowpoint that some TN superstars have - Chamique's bouncing the ball off a players head in college and then doing it again to Cynthia Cooper. Candace Parker acting like she's Pat Summitt through various actions from putting herself in the coaches huddle to coaching players from the sidelines, to the I'm perfect I couldn't commit a foul ever discusssions with refs. Given Summitt's committment and long demonstrated performance in helping her players become great leaders off the court - I don't understand why she has allowed these superstars to get away with those things in public.

The focus in college sports is almost always more heavily on the coach than on the athletes. It's the opposite in the pros. That's just the nature of the sport.

There are a few reasons for it, but the two chief reasons are because the athletes stay only 4 years (or less for men) and the coaches are almost always more intriguing personalities - they're older, more educated, more charismatic, etc.

When you think about college football you think about Bear Bryant and Woodie Hayes and Steve Spurrier way before you think about their players. In basketball you think about Bobby Knight and John Wooden and Dean Smith.

Think about it this way. When you think Carolina basketball, what do you think? Dean Smith. When you think about the Chicago Bulls, what do you think? Michael Jordan.

That's just the nature of college sports. It always has been and always will be. You are always going to think of Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma in relation to UConn before their players (as great as those players are).